Tag Archives: Central Asia

Our experience leaving the extremely hospitable Kazakhstan and making our first succesful entry into China including how we had our first taste of this diverse country before we even left, realising our crucial mistake on the border and one of the strangest, and most successful, hitchhikes of all time...

A quick summary of our recent hitchhiking adventure in Kazakhstan, one of the most hospitable countries we have ever been to! Check out the post to see a video covering our stay as well as a full directory of articles on Kazakh culture, traditions and our travelogue.

Our subjective impressions from this vast, friendly and contrasting land. Information on family life, the Russian influence, language, religion, hospitality, food & drink and why it is bad to whistle...

The 19th video in our Cultural Relay Project teaching how to cook Beshbarmak - the national dish of Kazakhstan. Consisting of boiled horse or mutton meat, boiled pastry noodles and topped with an onion and broth sauce, Beshbarmak means five fingers in Kazakh due to the way of consuming the food, namely with the hand. Watch our new video to learn how to bring a little Kazakh culture into your kitchen...

It was time to head south again back across the steppe. But first we wanted to drop in on our new friend we had meet on our previous hitchhike north. Artyom was one of the most hospitable guys you could ever imagine but he had a darker side which we soon learnt about...

We finally manage to conquer the seemingly never ending steppe and we meet a very interesting character on route. Then we explore Astana, the futuristic capital of Kazakhstan with maybe the loveliest people in the whole country...

The highs and lows of hitchhiking across the steppe: We set off on the unforgiving journey of travelling between Kazakhstan's two biggest cities across grassland as far as the eye can see. We break up the journey in Karaganda by staying with perhaps the last person you would expect to find in this hostile environment...

Getting old is what happens to other people, people with less luck, past it actors, rock stars, my parents, everybody else, just not me... How will Jon deal with turning the big 3.0.? Find out as we see in the milestone in Kazahstan's southern capital of Almaty and explore one of Central Asia's coolest and most chic cities

Our experience heading out of the beautiful Kyrgyzstan into the, as yet, undiscovered vastness of Kazakhstan. Would we survive the hectic border crossing without elbowing a pushy old lady in the face? Read on to see if we kept our cool...

A quick summary of our month-long hitchhiking adventure in Kyrgyzstan, one of the most beautiful countries we have ever been to! Check out the post to see a video covering our stay as well as a full directory of articles on Kyrgyz culture, traditions and our travelogue.